Friend spilled pop in netbook

adarryladarryl No Man Stands So Tall As When He Stoops To Help a Child. Icrontian
edited February 2011 in Hardware
Got a call last night from the daughter of a coworker. She accidentally spilled her pop over her netbook while using it and now gets a 'no hard drive found' error on boot. I think it's toast, but is there anything you would try to save the situation?

Comments

  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited February 2011
    As a rule, sticky soda drinks and electronics aren't a good mix :(

    It could well mean the hard drive is deceased or the controller for it has breathed its last breath. You could potentially take it apart and see if the drive can be salvaged.

    See what others think but i would suspect it's new net book time.
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited February 2011
    Given the fact that they tried to turn it on after the spill, she's probably shot any chance at saving it.

    Rule #1 of electronics spills: Kill power to the device as quickly as possible, disassemble it, clean it, and make sure it dries out completely before reassembling it and trying to turn it back on.

    You could try replacing the hard drive, maybe you got lucky and that's the only part that died. I wouldn't be too hopeful about that though.
  • adarryladarryl No Man Stands So Tall As When He Stoops To Help a Child. Icrontian
    edited February 2011
    Actually, she spilled her pop into the laptop while she was using it. It was ON when it happened. She apparently turned it off but then back on again several times after wiping it dry. Since it didn't come back up, she let it air dry for a day or two before calling me. I told her it is probably toast and your replies seem to concur. I went out to breakfast with her mother the following morning and asked her how Jennifer was doing after her netbook spill. Her mother said, "What spill?" Oops! :O
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited February 2011
    I've spilled pop on my laptop while it was running before as well. I immediately pulled the battery then took it apart and left it by the heater to dry for a day. Came back up just fine. She probably fried it when she turned it back on. Wipe it all you want, liquid will find it's way inside and you need to let it air dry.
  • allenpanallenpan ThunderBay, Ontario, CAnada Icrontian
    edited February 2011
    problem with pop or even water is the salt trace afterward it is highly conductable, ideally wash it with de-ionized distill water and heat gun dry it so it will leave no trace and start fixing from that point onward
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